Grilled Chicken Salad with Tzatziki Sauce

Last night's dinner is courtesy of the South Beach Diet cookbook, a book I need to spend more time cooking from if you get my drift. This blogging stuff is darn hard on the waistline.

Simply chicken marinated in lemon juice, oregano, salt, pepper and a small amount of oil and grilled, it sits on top of a pile of mixed greens duded up with cucumber spears and tomato wedges. I threw in a few black kalamata olives, some sweet onion and a touch of feta cheese just because I wanted to which may have taken it out of the South Beach realm but it sure did taste good.

The real deal here though is the dressing for the salad; a blended up slurry of non-fat yogurt (I used Greek style because that's what I had), cucumber, garlic, fresh dill and mint along with a touch of olive oil and vinegar. It's really quite delicious with the addition of the fresh herbs although in my opinion it needed more salt and definitely some coarse ground black pepper.

It was quite lovely really and a rather light dinner at least for us. Personally, I was quite proud of the grilling job I did on the chicken, especially since that task is normally left for the Big Guy to accomplish. I need to get some practice in because I'll be moving to the Big Guy's outdoor kitchen for about 2 weeks as we do a little kitchen remodelling. Now that should be interesting. I run like heck at the sight of a bee or any creepy crawly and there's a lot of them around here this time of year.  At least I'll be getting some exercise!

Grilled Chicken Salad with Tzatziki Sauce (from JBug’s Kitchen adapted from South Beach Diet)

4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

Combine above ingredients together in a zip bag and marinate for a minimum 2 hours. Grill chicken until internal temperature reaches 160. Allow to rest covered for 10 minutes before slicing and refrigerate leftovers promptly.

Sauce:

1 cup plain yogurt (I used Greek style)

2/3 cup peeled, seeded and chopped cucumber

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine ingredients yogurt, cucumber, garlic, oil and vinegar in a blender and mix until smooth. Fold in dill and mint and season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate a minimum of 1 hour to blend flavors.

Salad:

Mixed greens

1 tomato, cut into wedges

1 small cucumber, cut into spears

Black kalamata olives

Feta cheese as garnish

Line plates with mixed greens. Top with tomato, cucumber, and olives. Place sliced chicken on top and drizzle with sauce. Garnish with feta cheese. Makes 4 servings. 

A year ago - Buttermilk Cheese Scones 

Two year's ago - Spicy Chicken with Apricots and Olives

Comments

[Lea]

What a gorgeous looking salad! Perfect on the grilling - you are giving the Big Guy a run for his money!
I am excited for you about the kitchen! And, just be brave out of doors my friend - remember - tiny little bug - big hugh human - nothing to be scared of there! I look forward to all of the grilling recipes!

[June]

Lea, I've a long way to go in the grillin'/bbq department to get anywhere near the talent of my Big Guy, but it's a great opportunity to learn. Just hope I don't burn his kitchen down.

[Lorraine]

This is one of my favorite dinner items. A big green salad topped with something grilled. Not really grilling weather here though. Have fun earning your "BBq Queen" apron.

[June]

Lorraine - I wonder how many times we'll be ordering out because I've burned dinner. It should be interesting. I'll be absolutely LOST without my kitchen.